Published 6:30 am, Sunday, December 14, 2008

Those are the marching orders for mall Santas this year as retail stores brace for a rough holiday shopping season.

Westfield Topanga, Westfield Fashion Square at Sherman Oaks and other malls opened their promotional Santa Claus pavilions even before Thanksgiving in hopes of luring early-bird customers with children to generate business traffic.

"We all feel the economic pinch, but we think that people will still be shopping this holiday season," said Karina Ovasapyan, marketing director of Westfield Fashion Square, where strolling Christmas carolers and special children's activities accompanied Santa's arrival this season.

Meanwhile, many Santas have been told to help lower excited children's expectations so kids won't be disappointed by parents managing smaller holiday budgets.

Traditionally, Santas have been commercial goodwill ambassadors, not unlike the Kris Kringle in the Hollywood movie classic Miracle on 34th Street who built up business for Macy's department stores by helping shoppers find the best bargains, even from rival stores.

But the modern mall Santa also directly makes money for an employer. Most North Pole settings in malls are tied to a photography service — photos of your child with Santa — that include packages costing up to $60.

Cherry Hill Photo of New Jersey — which provides Santas, elves and photographers to about 400 malls, including several in the San Fernando Valley — said the hard times have not had a huge effect on its business.

"Though the economy may be suffering, Cherry Hill Photo has not experienced any cutbacks in staffing for our Santas, elves or support staff," the company said in a written statement. "Additionally, we have observed no change in holiday decor programs at the malls to which we provide our services."

One Santa who will be working a mall booth this season said instructions he received this year included a directive about not promising anything specific.

"If a kid is insistent, we're instructed to say, 'Santa will see what he can do,'" said the promotional Santa who declined to be identified.

He said other instructions included learning the names of some of the reindeer.

"Kids will ask about them, and so you better know who they are," he said.